La Familia is just one of a dozen gangs operating on Milwaukee's south side, which is a big concern for the officers of Milwaukee Police Department's District 2.

WISN 12 News reporter Christina Palladino went on assignment with the anti-gang task force in District 2, which is headquartered in essentially the heart of the south side.

The police department estimates the dozen or so gangs operating there include hundreds of loosely affiliated groups.

Carlos Silva said he's cleaned up his life and left the streets behind.

"Two years ago, I decided I wanted to open my own little detailing business because I'm a seven-time felon. Who's going to hire somebody with seven felons?" Silva asked.

Silva focuses on cleaning one window, one wiper at a time. It's this type of steadiness that's slowly helped him transform his life.

"I was a gang member since I was 13 years old in the city of Milwaukee on the south side," Silva said. "I went to prison when I was 18 years old for a gang murder. Now, I'm here and doing what I'm supposed to be doing as a person and for my community. I've changed my life a lot."

However, Silva may be the exception.

"That's what our problem is; it's hard to get out of because they treat you like family," Milwaukee Police Detective Thomas Obregon said.

"You have gang members who are grandfathers, fathers, uncles, brothers, cousins. They have all joined the gang just because their family members were in the gang," Obregon said.

Obregon knows the south side. He grew up there, worked the beat and now leads the efforts to get gangs off the streets in the 7.2 mile area that makes up District 2.

"Chicago is the main hub of drug trafficking for the cartels and we are 90 miles away from Chicago," Obregon said. "If you follow any of these members, like the Surenos, they are usually the muscle for these cartels and the drugs coming in."

WISN 12 News photojournalist John Kenney and Palladino were given exclusive access to go on patrol with Officers Gregory Borst and Matthew Tracy, who know all the important players in the gangs.

"We keep a mental log of who is who, who's related to who, the areas we focus on, addresses and stuff like that," Borst said.

On a cold Friday night they drove through quiet neighborhoods and alleys, stopping to look at graffiti tags.

"We can assume based on what we can see that 'SUR' means Surenos is really an umbrella term for a bunch of gangs in Milwaukee; the Clantones, Domingos Vario, the Mexican Posse," Borst said.

"When they put the taggings up, it's mostly because someone lives in the area, and they're trying to say this is our area, we run this place," Borst said.

Driving through certain south-side neighborhoods, the officers looked for targets -- anyone who can give them information.

"You stop someone, and they might tell you information that might break open a case," Tracy said.

The officers said gang-related crimes reach beyond the city limits.

"Gang members who are in Milwaukee, they do not just stay in Milwaukee. They frequently go out to the neighboring jurisdictions -- the Oak Creek, Franklin, Greenfield, Greendale, Waukesha," Borst said.

That's why the gang task force -- those on the street and working inside the Intelligence Fusion Center -- rely on the extra eyes and ears of citizens.

"They go out there and reach out on their own, and that's huge for us and the police department, that's huge for our city," Obregon said.

For the officers, the work is all about giving someone like Silva a second shot at success.

"I wanted a second chance of life; proving myself to my family, the community that I could learn from my past mistakes," Silva said.

For every gang member who leaves street life behind, the anti-gang squad has hundreds more to track.

Police told WISN 12 News that gang activity is spreading more and more into the suburbs.

They've made 84 gang related arrests in the last year. Officers credit citizen involvement and citizen tips for many of those arrests.